


Brotherhood - A Star Wars Story

by Jacobdflores



Series: The Flesio Series [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Anger, Combat, Crash Landing, Death, Family, First Order, Frustration, Gen, Jakku, Loss, POV Original Character, Pilots, Rescue, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Spoilers, Unresolved Romantic Tension, War, space, the resistance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-07-10 13:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacobdflores/pseuds/Jacobdflores





	Brotherhood - A Star Wars Story

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Map](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832568) by [Jacobdflores](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacobdflores/pseuds/Jacobdflores). 
  * Inspired by [Hotshot - A Star Wars Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13830006) by [Jacobdflores](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacobdflores/pseuds/Jacobdflores). 



Jaycob was hard at work placing his finishing touches of blue and white paint on the hull of his [RZ-2 A-wing starfighter](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tallissan_Lintra's_RZ-2_A-wing_starfighter), when he was pinged on the radio. He rolled his eyes and tapped at his wrist-mounted computer.

"This is Jay, what's up?"

"Commander, you're needed in the conference room as soon as possible."

The identifiable voice of [Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kaydel_Ko_Connix) replied.

"Ugh really? What for?"

"Briefing of the ongoing mission for the Resistance informant."

"Dammit, if it's for that Jedi myth I swear I'm going to-"

"It is. Nonetheless it's still General Organa's orders. Plus I think she might have some information on Jaysen as well."

Jaycob's ears perked up at the mention of his brother. He hasn't heard from him in days ever since he was deployed to _[Jakku](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jakku)._

"Jaysen? Alright, I'm on my way."

Jaycob dropped the paint-sprayer and walked at a brisk pace to the control center. General Organa, Kaydel, and a few other high-ranking officials were crowded around a large holotable. Projected on the field was the small religious village, labeled  _Tuanul_. Smoke rose into the sky, and not from the man-made camp fires. The floor was littered with bodies of both villagers and stormtroopers alike. There wasn't a single sign of life left. On the outskirts, the wreckage of two X-Wings were visible on the sand.

"What...happened?"

Jaycob asked worriedly. Kaydel shared the same look of fright on her face. General Organa held her expression stern.

"This footage was recovered by your brother's R6 unit."

The video was corrupt. With the R6 unit fried, those who watched were hardly able to keep track of what was happening. At one second you would see a stormtrooper hit the ground dead, and in the next, you would see the body gone. Jaycob darted his eyes back and forth, searching for even a glimpse of his brother, but with no luck. The only recognizable clip was of Poe getting dragged into a shuttle and flying off out of atmosphere.

"Where's Jaysen?"

Jaycob asked anxiously. By the way Kaydel perked up, he could tell she wanted to know too.

"We think he was dragged along with Poe into the shuttle."

"So wherever Poe is, Jaysen is?"

Kaydel asked.

"That's what we hope. Jaycob, gather together a team. I'm sending you to go get our boys back."

Jaycob grinned mischievously.

"With pleasure."

(-)

The first person Jaycob recruited was his best friend, [Jessika Pava](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jessika_Pava), who seemed unusually enthusiastic about going on the mission.

"Jess, I'm going to need you to keep your cool. Ok?"

"I know I know but, it's just so exciting! Finally being able to fly next to you is gonna be great! All those maneuvers we practiced, we'll be unstoppable!"

"I know. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited. But we need to be mature about this, Poe and Jaysen's life are on the line."

" _Dameron_...right, you're right. Ok I understand."

"Thank you, now as Blue 2's first order, I'm going to need you to gather up the rest of the team. Pick players that know the game, no newbies. Not yet."

Jessika grinned at the sound of her new call-sign.

"You got it Jay."

She replied, with a comedic two-fingered salute. Jaycob snickered and walked out of the conference room and back to his A-Wing. He wouldn't be able to take the interceptor, which was still in need of repairs from a prior mission. Instead, he would be taking his stock blue-and-white T-70 X-wing. A reliable and safe choice, he was neither happy nor sad when he chose to take it up into space. The astromech slot usually remained vacant, since the young pilot decided to fly without one ever since he transitioned from starfighter to interceptor. But he decided that for this mission only, he'd take one. He brushed off the dust from his consoles and powered the engines. The familiar  _whirr_ filled his ears with joy. The planet of D'Qar grew smaller as Jaycob exited it's atmosphere. Kaydel's voice came in through his helmet,

"Blue Leader this is a comms check, do you read me?"

"This is Blue Leader, I copy loud and clear."

"Perfect, you're being sent to the Goazon badlands on Jakku."

"Really? Why would they be there? It doesn't make sense to take prisoners a couple miles away."

"It's just what the general ordered. Apparently, there's a situation. Local comms are buzzing about a crash landing."

"You think it was the shuttle?"

"We don't know, that's why we're sending you. Now, try to maintain a low profile, you'll be inserted during the night."

"Copy that, whatever it takes to get my brother back."

The small group of 4 X-Wings entered a hyperspace lane and plugged in the coordinates to _Jakku_. The blue and white tunnel stretched around the fighter and lunged him and his squad forward. He had a very bad feeling in his gut, like whatever they were about to find wasn't going to be good. A cold sweat started to emerge from his back region, leaving him squirmish in his seat. The only sounds that could be heard was the hum of the X-Wing engines and the periodic clicks from his astromech's internal machinery. As if she was in his head, Jessika called out to him over the comms.

"Hey, we're going to find your brother. Everything will be alright."

She reassured him. Jaycob nodded his head in reply.

(-)

The squad of X-Wings entered Jakku's atmosphere under the dark of night, as ordered, with the only sign of light coming from the underbelly spotlights. Jaycob's astromech beeped worriedly as the ship's scanners flared up.

"Sensors are indicating the downed ship, boss."

Blue 3 reported.

"Rog' I see it. Let's land here, it'll only be a quarter-mile walk. I don't want anyone to spot us."

"Copy."

The four starfighters descended gracefully to the ground, in a circular landing formation. Jessika was the first to breathe in the hot, desert air as she hopped out of her cockpit.

"I can't see blasted thing."

She complained as she opened her fighter's cargo compartment. Inside each of the squad member's X-Wings cargo compartments were night-vision goggles, a standard Glie-44 blaster pistol, and a med-kit, with the only variation being Jaycob's ship, replacing the pistol with an EL-16 HFE blaster rifle.

"R7, keep your electronic signature low. The FO could already be on their way."

Jaycob ordered as he opened his wrist-mounted gauntlet. Switching one of the toggles on his device, a miniature tracking program powered on, revealing a small dot blinking on the plain. The strobe represented the crash site, and Jaycob hoped that if they found the ship, they found their boys.

"Ok, we're moving this way. Put your goggles on, you never know what's lurking in these dunes."

He commanded, sliding his pair of night vision optics over his eyes. As soon as his vision was enhanced, the thick, black cloud of smoke arising from their target became even more alarming. The crash must have been fresh, since the flames gave no sign of calming down. The squad rushed to the area as fast as possible, while maintaining a low profile. Whether it was crouching behind a crushed Y-Wing or taking cover inside a destroyed AT-AT, both from the _Battle of Jakku_ , not being seen was the squad's top priority. Every now and then, a speeder could be heard in the distance, or a local police patrol would scout the general area with spotlights then take off. But no matter what, they were invisible.

Soon enough, the squad managed to reach the crash site without raising any suspicion. To their surprise, the downed shuttle wasn't actually a shuttle at all. It was a TIE fighter, a special forces one to be exact. It was missing a huge piece of it's right wing-panel, and the cockpit was already a few inches in sand. The pilot seat had been ejected, and lay a few meters away with the parachute flattened. Strapped in was Poe and a stormtrooper missing his helmet.

"Let's make sure this FO operative stays dead."

Blue 4 suggested. As tempting as it was, Jaycob declined the offer. He lowered his friend's weapon with his hand and said,

"No. There must be a reason he's in the same seat as Poe. Maybe he helped him escape."

"I guess. But we really don't have the time to think about that now. We need to get Poe back to D'Qar, it looks like he hit the ground hard."

Jessika inserted, trying to keep the two on task. Jaycob looked down at the unconscious pilot and nodded his head in agreement.

"Right, the faster we get him recovered, the faster I'll know where they're keeping my brother. Since he’s obviously not here."

Blue 3 and 4 were tasked with carrying Poe on a portable stretcher, while Jaycob and Jessika covered them. The journey back wasn't as long as before, since the squad already knew their way through the patrol paths and cover spots. Jessika's X-Wing was modified so that instead of carrying an astromech, which she was notorious for destroying, it carried an extra seat, which extended the cockpit a couple inches. Poe was stowed here, still knocked out. As Blue Squad reached the edge of the planet's atmosphere, Jaycob reported their success,

"Command, this is Blue Leader, the target has been obtained and extracted from Jakku. Blue Squad is RTB."

"Great job Blue Leader, see you soon."

(-)

The squad was already halfway through their hyperspace route when their unconscious friend had awoken.

 "Wh-what the hell?"

Poe asked drowsily. Jaycob glanced over to Jessika's fighter to see Poe holding his head.

"Hey look who decided to join us!"

Blue 3 exclaimed.

"Rise and shine Dameron."

Jessika added.

"Where am I?"

"You're on _my_ ship, Blue 2. Now careful, you're drooling all over my seats!"

"B-but what happened?"

"We were hoping _you_ could tell us that, buddy."

Jaycob cut in. After all, nobody knew exactly what went down except for him.

"All we know is that you were taken from a village, loaded into a shuttle, and somehow ended up inside a TIE fighter. We were able to pick you up before the FO did."

Poe had a puzzled look on his face.

"Uhh...erm...from what I can remember, I was on a star destroyer."

"Hang on a sec, a what now?"

Jessika questioned.

"Mmhm."

"Aaaand how'd you end up back on Jakku?"

"I met this stormtrooper, at least I think he was, and he helped me escape."

"An FO operative helped _you_ escape? Do they not know who you are?"

"It's still kinda fuzzy."

"That explains the guy in the seat we found."

Blue 4 chimed in.

"Wait, you found him? Where is he?"

Poe shot up in his seat.

"Still on Jakku."

"You left him there!?"

"We had no other choice!"

"Dammit. I owe him my life."

"Owed. He's probably dead now. But get back on track, what happened at the village?"

Jessika redirected. Poe didn't reply.

"Uhhh hello? I can see you in there. What happened on Tuanul? Where's my brother?"

Jaycob interrogated. Poe shook his head and stared at his feet.

"I'm sorry Jay."

Goosebumps ran up Jaycob's spine. Tightening his grip on his control yoke, he asked,

" _What_ do you _mean_?"

"Jaysen's gone. He was killed at the village, by Kylo Ren. I'm sor-"

Jaycob disengaged his hyperdrive, leaving the other three squadmates in the lane by themselves. He couldn't believe it. How did this happen? Jaysen wasn't even supposed to be on that mission. As Jaycob's breathing started getting faster, he struggled to keep himself from breaking down. His eyes began to swell and soon, tears began to appear. Jaycob let go of his yoke, to let his astromech take over, and threw off his gloves. Cupping his face, wet droplets seeped through the cracks in between his fingers, and fell onto his lap.

(-)

_Why?_

Was the only question on his mind. He was more angry than he was sad. And more angry toward the Resistance than the First Order. Jaysen was on his way home until they sent him back to Jakku. And for what? Some stupid map? Full of hatred and irritation, Jaycob began punching his NavComputer over and over, until the screen cracked and the wiring became exposed. Leaving his bare knuckles bleeding, Jaycob only stopped when Jessika's voice told him to.

"Jay, quit it! I know you're feeling terrible right now, but you need to calm down, please."

She had come back for him, not willing to let her commanding officer destroy himself.

"You have people who are counting on you to stay strong at times exactly like this. So, please for the love of God, stay strong. For me."

"Jess. It hurts."

"Yes Jay, I understand exactly how you feel. But just come home, focus on coming home."

Jaycob was referring more to his hand than to his heart. But both were excruciatingly painful. Sliding his gloves back on, he regained possession of the control yoke, telling his astromech to re-plug the coordinates to D'Qar. The same tunnel of white and blue light surrounded his starfighter as he returned to the hyperspace lane.

"Thank you, Blue Leader."

Jessika said as she led him to his landing platform. The rest of Blue Squad was already landed and beginning the refueling process, with the other two pilots waving to Jaycob as he descended.

"Sorry about your brother boss."

Blue 3 apologized.

"You don't need to apologize. You did a good job out there today."

Jaycob replied as he climbed out of his cockpit and down the ladder. He tried to follow Jessika's advice by not showing his pain, but it was a struggle. The entire walk back to his quarters felt like eternity, with fellow soldiers, pilots, and officers all giving him their condolences. News travels fast in the Resistance. But once he was finally able to get inside, he fell straight onto his bed. He hoped this was all just a nightmare, he's been getting a lot of those recently. Nonetheless he closed his eyes, hoping he'd wake up and realize that it really just was that. 


End file.
